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INTRODUCTION

On October 18,
1848, a treaty was made and
concluded between the United States of America and the Menominee tribe
of Indians of Wisconsin.

One of the
provisions of that treaty (Article
4, para. 3)was that the mixed bloods (part-Indian) of the tribe were to
receive $40,000 as a single and final payment, the proportion to each
to
be determined by the chiefs in council and a commissioner appointed by
the President of the U.S.

The Congress of
the U.S., on January 23, 1849,
ratified the treaty and appropriated the amount of money called for by
its provisions (9 Stat. 952). Subsequently, Thomas Wistar,
Jr., a
well known and highly respected Quaker, was appointed the Commissioner
to represent the President.

Under the
direction of Mr. Wistar and the
chiefs of the tribe, the $40,000 was apportioned on June 20th, 1849 and
actually paid on July 9th. At the conclusion of the payments issued on
July 9th, a total of $38,700 had been paid. The
commissioner
and the chiefs then approved a supplemental payment to an additional
eight
men and seven women and their families. These
payments were
made the following day, July 10th, and brought the total amount awarded
to $40,100.

The original document on
microfilm, as well as all other Federal government documents related to
Native American affairs, can be found at theNational
ArchivesRecords
of the Menominee
Indian ReservationRecords
of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs [BIA](Record
Group 75)1793-1989 online
film index
at:

We,
the undersigned, Chiefs of the Menominee Indians deputed by the Council
of our Nation, held at Green Bay the 20th of June, 1849, in conjunction
with Thomas Wistar, Jr. the Commissioner of the United States, to
assist
him in the payment of the Forty thousand dollars appropriated by
Congress
for the benefit of persons of the Mixed Blood of our people, hereby
certify
that we have so assisted him, and that the foregoing is a correct copy
of the Roll agreed to on the 20th. ulto by the Chiefs in Council and
that
the several awards are therein stated, and have been paid according to
the terms agreed upon in said Council, to wit:

An
award of Fifty Dollars to every man, woman and child enumerated in the
said roll, and a further award to each of the persons designated in
said
Roll by an Asterisk (*) affixed to his or her name, (being fifty in
number)
of an equal share, to each one of the remainder of the aforesaid forty
thousand dollars, after the first mentioned awards shall have been set
apart, which additional award was made in consideration of benefits
conferred
and services rendered to, our people by the individuals so designated
and
preferred.Green Bay, July 10th
1849Witnesses to the signatures
and paymentsAlfred CopeChas A. Grignon U.S.InterpreterJohn B. Jacobs - Sub.
Int.Robt B. HainesEphraim Shaler, U. States
Agent
Q. Masters DeptLamotteKay-Shee-NaoOsh-Ke-ha-Nau-NewWa-toh-shalConfirmed byThomas Wistar Jr.Commissioner

We,
the subscribers, Chiefs of the Menorninee Indians deputed by a Council
of our Nation, held at Green Bay, July the 9th, 1849, to decide upon
the
right of certain persons, claiming to be added, to the Roll, agreed to
on the 20th ult. whose, names by decision of said Council, now
constitute
the above Supplementary Roll, and to direct the erasure of the
following
which appear to have been twice entered upon the Original Roll, being
duly
authorized to inspect said Roll and Supplement after the erasures and
additions,
as directed, shall have been made, and to assist the Commissioner in
making
payments, conformable therewith, hereby declare, that the said Roll and
Supplement are correct and agreeable to the direction of the Council
aforesaid,
and that the several awards therein seated have been properly
paid:
We further declare that it was thewill of the Council that
the parties enumerated in the aforesaid Supplementary Roll should
severally
receive Fifty Dollars, and that the amount so awarded them, be deducted
from the remainder of the Forty thousand dollars, which was left after
the first awards on the Original Roll had been deducted, thereby
reducing
the sum to be divided among the fifty preferred persons, having
asterisks
affixed to their names on the Original Roll. The following
are the
names directed to be erased, viz: Peter Holdig, Angel
Corbelle, the
wife of Joseph Laframboise, the children of Louisa Domitille, Charles
G.
DeRiviere, Augustine Grignon Jr. Shajons, the son of Antoine Macaby,
likewise
LaMotte Taylor, ascertained to be dead.Green Bay July 10th,
1849